5 Takeaways From Oregon State's Loss To Purdue

-> While the final ledger may have indicated that the Oregon State defense surrendered 30 points and 401 yards of total offense to Purdue, those two stats don't accurately reflect how much improvement has been made on that side of the ball.

Entering the season, there was a lot of pressure on defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar's unit to finally help get the team over the hump with improved play, and after week one, it's clear the defense has taken a significant step forward. If the offensive script had been slightly different in this contest, this very well could have been a winning defensive effort.

While it was far from perfect, several significant aspects of the defense looked to be much improved from a season ago.

Starting with the defensive line, it's clear that the group has gotten better. The pass rush still wasn't as effective as you'd like it to be, but with allowing just 2.7 yards per carry, the defensive line definetly helped slow down the Purdue rushing attack at the point of attack.

The linebackers were largely solid, with Avery Roberts & Omar Speights providing solid play on the inside. The outside linebackers, led by Andrzej Hughes-Murray, Riley Sharp, Ryan Franke, & Cory Stover (briefly) had some decent moments, but missed some tackles and didn't get home to the QB on several occasions.

As far as the secondary goes, kudos to Jaydon Grant for making a big-time play to secure an interception and negate a potential score, but the unit wasn't as sharp as it needed to be. Not having Elijah Jones out there hurts depth-wise, but letting David Bell & Payne Durham combine for 15 receptions, 254 yards, and two touchdowns aren't going to get it done.

Overall, the defensive improvement is tangible, and that gives good reason for optimism heading into two very winnable games. The group can fine-tune their efforts and build up confidence against lesser competition in the next two weeks.

2. Chance Nolan Provides A Spark

-> In a surprise move, head coach Jonathan Smith inserted backup quarterback Chance Nolan in the third quarter after Sam Noyer fell out of rhythm.

With the Beavers trailing 16-7, Nolan came into the contest and immediately snapped the out-of-sync offense right into groove, igniting the downfield passing game and giving the team a chance to come back in the contest.

While he ultimately wasn't able to lead the comeback, Nolan finished with 157 yards passing on 10-of-16, while also adding in 13 yards on the ground.

It seemed like he was more collected delivering the ball accurately downfield than Noyer in this contest and it'll be interesting to see how the quarterback competition shakes out from here.